Magically Charmed
by MagentaButterfly92
Summary: A NEW CHAPTER HAS JUST BEEN ADDED! PLEASE READ IT AND THEN REVIEW! Zach and Cody now own the magical Percy's Rock. But what is it? What does it do? Why is it so dangerous? If time runs out, Percy's Rock will be too dangerous to handle!
1. The Beginning Of A Magical Story

Zach and Cody Martin sat in the lobby of the Tipton Hotel, located in Boston. Zach was slouched in the tan, leather armchair, while his twin named Cody sat in the identical one next to him. It was a rainy Saturday, with nothing to do. Their favorite game in the gaming room broke down, the pools were closed because of the thundering skies, their friends Max and Tapeworm were busy somewhere else, and everybody in the hotel seemed too busy to notice their boredom.

Cody sighed. "This day stinks. I wish we could just skip it and go to Monday."

"Why? What's Monday?" Zach asked his thirteen year old brother.

"It stops raining, _and_ Max comes back from her vacation in New Jersey!" Cody said, smiling at the thought of swimming in the pools under the warm sun.

"Oh, yeah. That'll be fun." Zach replied, heaving a heavy sigh and slouching even more into his squishy chair. He also wished it were Monday, and not this sluggish Saturday.

"Hey, guys! What's up?" Maddie asked, walking over to them. She plopped herself down on the couch across from them.

"We're bored." Cody answered, looking angry.

"Oh, well, I just got off for my lunch break. Did you two eat yet?" She asked, looking at the two unfriendly looking faces.

"No. Why?" Zach asked.

"Well, I just got my pay check, and since you two look so desperately anxious to get out of the hotel, I was wondering if you wanted to go out to eat with me? I'll pay!" Maddie asked, smiling at the grins forming on their faces.

"Would we ever! Thanks Maddie!" Cody said, jumping up from his chair. "I'll go get my rain jacket, so hold on a second, okay? I'll be right back!" With that, he ran off.

Zach got up from his chair after Cody disappeared.

"Wow! Thanks for taking us, Maddie! You are so good to me!" He said, with a smile that made Maddie want to throw up.

"Okay, okay. You're welcome. Go get your rain jacket, too, Zach."

"Will do!" He obeyed, and walked casually off towards his room.

In ten minutes, the boys were ready to go, standing at the front door. Maddie held an umbrella over her head, while the twins wore big, fire engine red raincoats that their grandma had gotten them for their birthday. They hated them, but what could they do? Under their Mom's orders, they must wear them while going in the rain.

They were just about to leave for lunch, when the door flung open by some unknown guest.

It was a man that sauntered into the room. He was the strangest man Zach and Cody had ever seen. He had long, snaggly, black hair that went down to his waist. Every strand of his hair looked as if it was stuck in one, giant knot. And as for his clothes: He wore a dark blue skirt that went down to his feet and a black shirt that had huge, puffy sleeves, and it was low cut, so it showed his furry belly button. He had earrings that fell from his ears in long dangles, and they shimmered the precious gold in all directions. His eyes were dark and mysterious, and his smile was one that looked as if it was hiding something. Something scary, something horrible, something magically mystical…maybe.

"Who is he? Do we know him?" Cody asked, whispering into Maddie's ear.

"Uhhhh…no. But, gee, he sure can stand out in a crowd." Maddie answered.

The man walked over Mr. Moseby, who was flipping through a book at the front desk.

"Hello, sir." The man said to Mr. Moseby. Mr. Moseby looked up quickly from his book and glanced casually at the man, as if this person didn't look at the least peculiar.

"What can I do for you?"

"I'd like to book a room, please." Grunted this weird, wild haired man. His voice was even worse than his appearance. It was a high pitched, screechy thing, that rung everybody's ears around him.

"Um, sure thing." Mr. Moseby said, now looking at this man with the low cut shirt. He surely noticed how strange this man was.

"How many people will be accompanying you? We only have two rooms left, with only one bed."

"Only me, sir."

"And what is your name? I'll need to type it into the computer here."

"Sir Lion P. Nickel." Sir Lion P. Nickel answered.

"Okay…" Mr. Moseby said, raising his eyebrows and typing the name into his computer.

"Your room will be room 411, okay? Here are your keys." He handed over the silver, shiny keys to the man's dirty, rough hands.

"But, before you go, of course, you must pay. How long will you be staying?" Mr. Moseby asked Sir. Lion P. Nickel.

"Only a week." The scraggly man answered.

"That'll be only 700 dollars, then. Cash or credit?"

"Cash." He reached into his huge, 12 inch long pocket, and his long fingers pulled out seven hundred dollars.

Zach and Cody, still standing at the door with Maddie, looked at each other in pure amazement. This Sir. Lion P. Nickel man was walking around with 7oo dollars in his pocket! Just like that? Wow! He must be rich, then.

Mr. Moseby took the hundred dollar bills, counted them up, then let the man be on his way.

Sir. Lion P. Nickel had no luggage, just everything that was jammed into his skirt's blue pocket. He sort of limped as he walked, and as he turned his back to the boys, they noticed his back had dirt smudges all over it. There was some lime green glowing goop stuck to the back of his elbow. Gross! This man was very strange.

Maddie looked at the boys, then said to them: "Come on, I'm hungry, and my lunch break is almost over! We really have to get going."

"Where are we going to eat?" Cody asked as they walked out into the pouring rain.

"I don't know yet. We'll see. There's a ton of places to go in Boston, we just have to find one." Maddie answered as they ran down the street under the hard, slamming raindrops.

"How about we get in a taxi?" Zach said.

"Good idea." Maddie said, looking at all of the yellow cars buzzing by them.

As Maddie flagged down a bright, sunny yellow taxi, Zach noticed something. Something very strange. When Sir. Lion P. Nickel walked into the hotel, he hadn't had one speck of a rain drop plastered anywhere on his clothes, or his hair. He was dryer than dry, which is impossible for today. Today it was like a hurricane, and if he got out of a taxi to enter the hotel, even then he'd get one drop of rain on him. But, no, he was drier than a twig sitting in the sun for days.

"Come on, Zach! Get into the taxi!" Cody yelled over the thundering skies and the loud purring motor.

"Sorry…" Zach replied, jumping into the warm, dry car and slamming the door after him.

"What happened? You were just standing in the rain, and we were all waiting for you to get in." Maddie asked after she told the cab to bring the threesome downtown.

"Oh, I was just in deep thought." Zach said, feeling sort of stupid at the moment.

"That's okay. I've had that happen to me before. So, where do you two feel like eating?" She asked.

Cody and Zach just shrugged their shoulders and looked out the window into the cold, wet air.

"Well, that helps." Maddie sighed. "Thanks for the enthusiasm."


	2. What's That?

That Saturday night, Cody and Zach were seated once again in the lobby, slouched in the armchairs. And again, they were bored.

"Can you believe it is still raining?" Cody asked.

"It's crazy! It's been raining all day long. All day." Zach complained.

Maddie was working at the candy counter, London was out at the mall getting accessories for her dog, their mother was cleaning up the kitchen, and let's just face it – the boys had not one single person other than themselves to talk to.

"Come on, Cody. Let's go play our video game in our living room." Zach said, jumping up from his chair.

"Fine." Cody said, not in the mood, but doing what his brother said anyway.

As the two walked from the lobby and got to suite 412 (their room) they heard a huge bang in the room next to them. Something was definitely happening over in room 411.

They exchanged curious looks, then put their ears to the door. They strained to hear. What was that low grumbling noise? What was it…?

"_Aaaa-oooo. Faaaaa-oooo_."

"Okay? That's different! It sounds like chanting." Cody whispered, taking his ear away from the stranger's door.

Zach took his ear away from the door too, scratched his head, the put his ear back to the door.

"Listen! Did you hear that!" Zach asked, eyes popped wide open, not taking his ear away.

"No! Why? What happened?" Cody asked, excited.

"There was a small 'vwoom' noise, then a gurgling gross sound. Then…then…"

Zach looked up horrified.

"What?" Cody asked.

"Fast! Get inside our - "

Room 411's door swung open, and there stood the strange Sir Lion P. Nickel, looking at the boys, who were caught red-handed.

In a high-pitched voice, he asked, "What are you young boys doing outside my door?" He stared into the twin's scared eyes.

"Um, we weren't doing anything. We were about to um, go into our suite. See? That's ours." Cody said, pointing to room 412, while Zach nodded his head vigorously.

"I distinctly heard your voices out here yelling '_Listen! Did you hear that?"_ and I saw you putting your ear to my door." He stated, now crossing his arms and giving them the expression of a 'beat that, punks'.

"You saw us putting our ears to your door?" Zach asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

The man's face turned a deep maroon red, and then he said, "Uhh, wait. No, you misunderstood. I, um, just er…never mind that! Just don't, under any circumstances, listen to what I'm up to in my room. It's very rude, mind you."

"Sure, okay." Cody said. _But, still, how'd he see us listening in on him? How? There's no way – he was on one side of the door, and we were on the other! Huh! _Cody thought.

"Well, you two, I'm busy right now. So, please, don't be bothering me again." Sir Lion P. Nickel said. He rushed into his room again, and then slammed the door behind him.

All that had happened so fast, the boys were dumbfounded. Wow.

"Well, now what?" Cody asked.

"Wanna play our video game?" Zach replied.

"Yeah, sure." With that, the two boys opened the door to their suite, but right before Zach was about to close the door, he saw something lying on the ground, right by Sir Lion P Nickel's room.

"Wait, Cody! What's that!" He pointed at the shiny, glowing rock/pebble looking thing.

"Huh?" Cody said, poking his head back out to look into the hallway.

"I have no idea." He answered.

Zach went to pick it up. As he held it in his palm, it glowed a flashing, exotic, lime green color. He touched its smooth surface with his other hand. It had no bumps or ridges. It was the softest thing he'd ever felt. Underneath all of the glowing light, he could see his reflection smiling back at him.

"Woah! What…what is that?" Cody stuttered, trying to grab the pebble from his brother's hands. Zach pulled away. This magical stone would be his now.

"How should I know? All I know is that it's awesome!"

With that, he slipped the rock into his pocket and the two of them went in to play video games.


	3. Percy's Rock

The only thing that separates the twin's bedroom from where Sir Lion P. Nickel is staying is one thin wall. Only six inches or so kept the boys from seeing what this magical man was doing, but they could hear everything that occurred on the other side.

It was Sunday morning, seven o'clock a.m. Cody was snuggled under his covers, pillows draped across his head. Zach didn't have any blankets on – they were all in a heap at the end of his mattress, but his pillow was rested gently underneath his head. All was quiet.

"D_ang it all!_ _It must be around here somewhere!"_ Sir Lion P. Nickel's voice filtered through the walls like water through a sponge. His squeaky voice hadn't woken the boys, yet, thank goodness.

"_I know I left it around here somewhere. It was supposed to be in my pocket, so I reckoned maybe it'd be on my nightstand. I guess I was wrong. Hmmm. This is just plain pathetic!"_

Pretty soon, Sir Lion P. Nickel's angriness awoke Cody's light sleeping. His eyes jolted open, as he thought that this unknown voice was coming from somewhere in his room. Sitting up quickly, he looked around, heart beating fast.

"_WHERE IS IT!" _

Cody heard the voice, but had no idea where it was coming from.

"Hey, Zach? You awake?" Cody asked.

"No." Zach mumbled from across the room.

"Did you hear that man yelling? It sounds like he's in our room, Zach! Where is he?" Cody whispered, looking around wildly.

"Yeah. It's just our new neighbor. Sir Brian L. Penny or something like that. He's too loud. Doesn't he know that he's way too noisy for only seven in the morning on a Sunday? Some of us actually sleep around here." Zach answered, stuffing his head under his pillow.

With a sigh of great relief, but feeling dumb at the same time, Cody rested back into his bed. For a minute, he thought somebody was actually in his bedroom.

What they didn't know was that Sir Lion P. Nickel was over in room 411 trying to find that precious magic stone that Zach had found the day before. The same rock that Zach had put in his pocket to keep. The same rock that was sitting in the hamper right now with all of the twin's other dirty jeans and t-shirts. Sir Lion P. Nickel was going to find that stone whether the boy's got hurt in the process or not. The magic Percy's Rock held was more powerful and dangerous than five armies put together. And if it weren't used with great respect and gentleness, it would cause much damage. Indescribable damage. And, so far, Percy's Rock was sitting in a hamper, full of moldy smelling, mud covered, soda stained clothes, not being treated with generosity at the least. If the boy's weren't more careful, their troubles would just be starting. If Sir Lion P. Nickel doesn't find Percy's Rock, magic would be invading the Tipton Hotel!

Later, at around one in the afternoon, Carry (the twin's mother) was taking all of their dirty clothing out of the hamper and putting it into the washing machine.

She tossed in some of Cody's new sweaters, flung in some of their brownish socks, threw all of the underwear in, and last but not least, she hurled in Zach's jeans that held Percy's Rock in the back pocket.

Carry switched on the machine, and it rumbled vigorously. Water surged through, making the clothing splash around in soapy suds. And there was Percy's Rock - flopping around crazily in the rapid waters. It was jostled, twisted, pushed, and shook up. There was no gentleness to the magical stone in this washing machine adventure.

Carry left the bathroom (where all this was happening) switching off the lights. But, even though she turned them off, it was still brighter than day in there! She walked away, not noticing the lime green light that was pouring from the small window of the washing machine.

Nobody knew it was happening. Nobody knew about the stone's magical and dangerous ways. Nobody knew but Sir Lion P. Nickel.

Sir Lion P. Nickel was sitting in a diner when all of this was occurring. He was munching on a delicious burger that was straight from the grill, reading _The_ _Daily Boston Report, _and occasionally looking up at the football game to see what the scores were. It was all swell, until he had a strange feeling run through his spine and up to his skull. He dropped his burger, his paper, and took his eyes away from the football game. What was this strange feeling? It was sort of like a thought that was trying to get into his head. But the thought wouldn't come through straight. All he could get out of this odd feeling was that it involved…Percy's Rock! And those darn twin boys that lived next door in the hotel!

He took one last mouthful of his burger and then rushed down the streets of busy Boston, passing curious faces that were looking at his knotted, black hair and his long skirts. He didn't mind people's thoughts and facial expressions, though. What he cared about was getting to the Tipton Hotel to stop the madness that involved Percy's Rock. He had no idea what was happening, or where in the hotel he should go. All he knew was he had to be there, and he had to be there fast.

He burst into the Tipton Hotel, gasping for air. He wasn't used to so much physical activity in one day. He had just run about five blocks straight, and he could feel his chubby belly itching him. As he stood in the doorway, breathing heavily to catch his breath, he noticed Maddie looking at him with wide eyes behind her counter.

"Are you alright? Would you like some water or something?" Maddie asked, holding out a nice cold bottle filled with crystal clear water.

"I'm… I'm…fine. But…thanks anyway." Sir Lion P. Nickel said, taking deep breaths in between each word. Wow. He was out of shape.

He stumbled down the stairs, feeling floppy and useless after running so far, so fast. He waddled around the lobby, wiping his hand over his sweaty, hot forehead. He had to gain some life back before going to save the day from the dangerous Percy's Rock.

Then he felt that pain run up his spine again. Slowly the surge went up into his brain. OUCH! It stung. But…what was that? It was giving him…a vision. He pictured Percy's Rock, tumbling through a washing machine, shining lime green light throughout the bathroom. But, who's suite was that?

He started to the elevator, and when he got inside, he had to choose what floor to go to. Well, which suite did he mostly assume would have the stone in it? Zach and Cody's, of course. The two annoying brats that lived next to him, that listen in on other people's things. So, he punched in '4', so that the elevator would take him to that floor.

It took about five seconds to get to the fourth floor. Now, they were the twelfth room, so he started walking fast down the hallway, looking frantically at the signs plastered to the doors that told what room number they were. Twelve doors down, he found his destination.

Not caring about manners, he pulled out his wand (only used when truly needed) from his large pocket, and groaned out some chants. Instantly, red light poured out of the small wand and pushed open the door in a loud, smashing way.

This was too easy. He simply walked inside, to find Carry sitting shocked on the couch, reading _The Housekeepers Guide to A Happy Household. _Instantly, he shoved his wand back in his pocket. He didn't need the whole world to think he was magical.

"Excuse me? Who are you?" Carry asked, slamming her magazine down on the couch to get up. Nobody was going to walk into her house without permission.

"Sir Lion P. Nickel. Please don't mind me doing this. Show me to your bathroom, and fast!"

"Umm, I don't think so, big guy! Get out of my suite!" Carry yelled at him.

"No…please let me explain what I'm -"

"GET OUT! I'm warning you, P. Nickel! I have a broom and I know how to use it!" Carry shouted, cutting off his sentence.

Soon, Zach was walking into the living room, looking just as stunned as his mother to see this man standing there in his house.

"You!" Sir Lion P. Nickel said, pointing his finger at the boy. "Have you seen a glowing rock, lately?"

"What are you talking about!" Carry shouted. "Just leave us alone, you freak!" She rushed over to Zach and grabbed his arm.

"Yeah, I've seen one. Why?" Zach asked, looking at Sir Lion P. Nickel suspiciously.

"Do you have it?" Now he could be getting somewhere.

"I think so. I put it in my pocket yesterday night. Mom, did you do the wash yet?" Zach said, looking up into his mother's angry eyes.

"Yes, I did. Do you know his man?"

Ignoring his mother, he continued, "Well, it's probably in the wash right now. But, why? Is it yours or something?"

"Just let me see it! And, yeah, it's mine! Please, I need it back now!" Sir Lion P. Nickel squealed desperately.

Zach led him to the bathroom, with Carry right behind.

As the stepped in, the whole bathroom was glowing with that same, strange green light. This was bad. Real bad. And the worst part was, Sir Lion P. Nickel didn't even know what to do right now. His magical self was for once dumbfounded.


End file.
